The ESC was founded to promote the research, development and deployment of storage technologies as well as to raise awareness of the importance of storage for the future of America's electricity supply and energy security.

ESC believes that energy storage is the "sixth dimension" of the new electricity value chain (along withfuels/energy sources, generation, transmission, delivery, and customer
energy services) and the critical link in making electricity work better.

The Role of Energy Storage

Although many people believe that electricity cannot be stored effectively, there are, in fact, several large-scale storage installations already in operation in the United States today. From large-scale pumped-hydro storage and compressed air energy storage (CAES) to smaller technologies such as batteries, flywheels and electrochemical capacitors, energy storage is very much on the minds of engineers, traders, security analysts and policy makers across the country.

Energy storage has critical roles to play in securing our energy future including:

:: serving as an "electricity reserve" much like the national Petroleum Reserve:: stabilizing electricity markets:: stabilizing the transmission and distribution grid:: enabling more efficient use of existing generation assets:: making renewable energy economically viable